


Actual Art Degree

by DumplingWhisperer



Category: Disco Elysium (Video Game)
Genre: Fanart, Gen, Trypophobia, Very mild body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:54:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24428338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DumplingWhisperer/pseuds/DumplingWhisperer
Summary: My Disco Elysium Big Bang 2020 entry. Theme: Harry Du Bois and his art.
Comments: 24
Kudos: 49
Collections: Disco Elysium Big Bang





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Artist in the Studio](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24431956) by [MorgoMoonscar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorgoMoonscar/pseuds/MorgoMoonscar). 
  * Inspired by [Art Cop Illustration](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24432118) by [kerrhole](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerrhole/pseuds/kerrhole). 



> I hope people don't think I have an actual art degree. This is about Harry's supposed alleged actual art degree!

Image credits

Jean's coastline is partially referenced from a NASA satellite image of the Osaka shoreline: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wfm_kansai_overview.jpg

Kim's church window is a work by William Wailes: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rose_window_Richmond.jpg#mw-jump-to-license

Both images are public domain.


	2. Explanations and Process

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick symbolism explanation and early sketches.

**Jean Vicquemare**

I knew I wanted the Revachol coastline in one of the pictures, since the sea and the main river are so important to the city. Satellite photos of coastal cities also forever remind me of broken glass, going back to me mistaking a [cover art of Detective Conan](https://conanwiki.org/wiki/Datei:Band_19.jpg) (Case Close in the US.) So for the shape of the coast line I used a map of Revachol by ZAUM and the satellite shot of Osaka I knew from Conan to expand it further and get more details in, as well as reference for the clouds.

The combination of negative space created by the water and the 'shattered glass' effect stands for Harry's fragmented memory and the large hole in it that swallowed nearly all of Jean and their partnership. He knows there is someone, but Jean is effectively a stranger to him and he barely has any recollection of his face. But Harry does know they're connected via the RCM and the RCM and Revachol are inextricably linked, tying Jean to the city itself.

In time Harry will refamiliarize himself with Jean as he will with Revachol, and one through the other.

**Judit Minot**

Just copying it over from a comment I wrote: "Judit's motif was very instinctive on my part, because I really like this architecture style and something like it can be seen on the Doomed Commercial Area building. But it's a window specifically because Judit feels like the most approachable member of the squad to Harry, yet she's not sharing information either and just observing. Kind of like you can't see into windows from the outside very well, but someone inside can see you."

Her portrait was also the one I still aproached the most "traditionally artistic", as if Harry could have actually painted this on canvas. I went on to deliberately pick other styles and brushes for the remaining portraits (I painted this first!), because I wanted more variety and tbh maintaining a purely traditional style in a digital medium is hard for me.

**Trant Heidelstam**

Trant is difficult for me. I confess I instictively disliked his personality when I played the game (which is great! What a well-realized characters). Since then I've seen that he is very beloved in parts of the fandom and I wanted to include him in this lineup and do him justice.

The bullet holes because of the Feld building firing squad wall, of course. Trant is deeply interested in history and how it shapes us, yet at the same time he also has incredible blind spots by focusing only on the technological aspect of the Feld building, trying to divorce technological advancement from its inherent politics. Hence the obscuring of his eyes gets a double meaning - yes, Harry doesn't remember him either, but Trant himself is also blind to certain obvious things (including how to read a room.)

Also, painting bullet holes is hard! Getting the shape, drop shadow, lighting and everything to look right was a challenge, and then a natural distribution is hard too. I roughly referenced a few stock photos and also the [Plaça de Sant Felip Neri](https://www.google.com/search?q=pla%C3%A7a+de+sant+felip+neri+barcelona&client=firefox-b-m&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOm7bth97pAhVTtXEKHfmSAyAQ_AUoAnoECA4QBA&biw=1175&bih=744&dpr=2) in Barcelona, which is the wrong type of damage as it was done by dropped bombs, but gave me an excuse to read up on the history of Franco's fascists besieging the city in 1938. Interestingly, the fascists later [spread the lie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pla%C3%A7a_de_Sant_Felip_Neri#Myths) that the damage was cause by gunfire in order to blame the anarchists/republicans.

I kept Trant's grin, because that's important. Love it or hate it, it shines through not matter what.

**Kim Kitsuragi**

Kim is a darling and the patron saint of patience and I love him.

My inital plan was to have his halo be overlayed with a map or a night time satellite shot of the city, since his love for Revachol runs so deep and so much of his life is caught up in the very fabric of the city. I experimented with photos of Paris and Berlin, London was deemed as too recognizable which is frustrating, because it also has a river. I was relaying the idea to my partner, but since I'm a slow talker they sometimes finish sentences for me and automatically assumed I was doing a church window. As you can tell, that idea was the best idea.

I spent some time finding the right circular window I could reference and then just ended up using the photo itself, after blurring it, adjusting the color balance, and overlaying it with effects layers. This is how I ended up with the bisexual lighting. To me Kim is gay and not bisexual, but it's just a damn good color scheme.

My idea for Kim was clear from the start: Jean, Judit and Trant would all have their eyes obscured and other parts detailed - Harry has history with them, but he's forgotten who they truly are and his connection to them. In contrast, Harry has known Kim for a week and knows next to nothing about his life (Kim being naturally guarded doesn't help) and yet he's the one person amnesiac Harry knows the best and has the deepest connection with - hence everything obscured _but_ his eyes.

I could get into churches and being a lapsed catholic myself and religion/spirituality clearly playing a big role in Disco and the way Harry assigns larger-than-life, religious meaning to important people in his life and that's all _true_ , but it's also very simple because Kim has a near-canonical halo and stained glass is very pretty.


End file.
